Thornycroft has caught Armstrong looking thoughtful and quite without pomposity. At the unveiling in 1906, in the presence of a large crowd, the Duke of Northumberland described the monument movingly as a “noble tribute to the genius of Newcastle’s greatest benefactor and one of England’s most brilliant and honoured masters of industry."

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This life-size bronze of Lord Armstrong depicts him with a little Scottish terrier at his feet and a sheaf of drawings in his hand. The bronze sits on an ashlar pedestal with two bronze low-relief panels depicting his work, and places to sit, on either side. The panel on the left shows a hydraulic crane lowering a gun onto a battleship. The one on the right depicts a ship being towed through the Newcastle Swing-Bridge, with Stephenson’s High-Level Bridge standing out clearly in the background.

Unfortunately, the extensive rebuilding work on the Hancock Museum of Natural History, of which Armstrong was both benefactor and President, makes a dreary backdrop for the memorial at present (2007). But it will no doubt be shown off to advantage again when the rebuilding is completed in 2009.